Today’s live streaming video of oral arguments in the Lobato school finance case[1] is the first installment in what is to become regular practice at the Colorado Supreme Court.

And that’s a welcome decision.

Court spokesman Rob McCallum told us that the web-based streaming video[2] of arguments in Lobato vs. The State of Colorado came about as a way to accommodate public interest in the case.

The case[3] was filed in 2005 by a group of parents who contend the state has failed to meet the Colorado constitutional mandate of providing a “thorough and uniform” school system.

Demand for seats in the court room exceeded the number of seats available, McCallum said. The court’s move to its new building, which is better wired for technological needs, made it easier to show the events in real time.

The court, he said, intends to stream its next cases up for oral arguments, which is on the calendar in May. The idea is to continue doing so on a regular basis.

“I think the mission is to increase the transparency of and accessibility to court proceedings,” McCallum said.